The voters have spoken, and so has Al Gore. It seems that the United States has no choice but to outlaw the burning of all coal and pretty much lay a chain saw to most of the energy industries and embrace something akin to the Great Leap Forward. In calling for “sustainable capitalism,” Gore and his business partner David Blood write in the Wall Street Journal:

At this moment, we are faced with the convergence of three interrelated crises: economic recession, energy insecurity and the overarching climate crisis. Solving any one of these challenges requires addressing all three.

For example, by challenging America to generate 100% carbon-free electricity within 10 years – with the building of a 21st century Unified National Smart Grid, and the electrification of our automobile fleet – we can encourage investment in our economy, secure domestic energy supplies, and create millions of jobs across the country.

We also need to internalize externalities – starting with a price on carbon. The longer we delay the internalization of this obviously material cost, the greater risk the economy faces from investing in high carbon content, “sub-prime” assets. Such investments ignore the reality of the climate crisis and its consequences for business. And as Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute recently said: “Nature does not do bailouts.”Goreâ€™s Sustainable Fascism | War On You